2/25/2015 - Malawis Parliament Voted Unanimously to End Child MarriageThe Malawian Parliament voted unanimously last week to ban child marriage, an important move for a country with one of the highest child marriage rates in the world.
The legislation raises the minimum legal age of marriage to 18....

7/24/2014 - From Passion to Progress Briefing Brings Together Feminist Leaders and Hundreds of Young ActivistsFeminist Majority Foundation (FMF) staff, two congresswomen, and over a hundred DC interns came together yesterday for FMF's Intern Student/Activist briefing in Dirksen Senate building to discuss how to put a women's rights agenda into action.
Over plates of donuts and cups coffee, participants listened to a succession of engaging and passionate speeches from congressional and feminist leaders: Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA), Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and FMF President Eleanor Smeal....

6/23/2014 - Senate Subcommittee to Tackle Violence Against Women GloballyEngaging the US in the global fight to end gender-based violence will take center stage tomorrow as part of a Senate subcommittee hearing aimed at fully combating violence and discrimination against women worldwide.
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Senate Foreign RelationsSubcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues hearingwill preside over the hearing at which several women Senators will testify, including Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Patty Murray (D-WA).
The Senate Subcommittee hearing will focus on how the US and the international community can work to prevent violence against women, promote women's rights, and empower women and girls globally....

2/18/2014 - Uganda President To Sign Anti-Gay LegislationThe president of Uganda, Yoweni Museveni, released a statement Saturday saying he planned to sign the sweeping Anti-Homosexuality Bill that passed the nation's parliament in December.
The bill was originally introduced in 2009 with a death penalty provision for some "homosexual acts," but it was delayed because of international uproar and the threat of a loss of aid from several nations....

11/15/2013 - Report Shows Growing Global Commitment to Family Planning A report released Wednesday by Family Planning 2020 (FP2020), "a global partnership that supports the rights of women and girls to decide, freely, and for themselves, whether, when, and how many children they want to have," details successes and progress made in international commitments to improving family planning since the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning....

2/28/2012 - Girls Learn International Delegates at UN Commission on Status of Women A delegation of 20 high school and middle school student leaders of Girls Learn International chapters from across the country, together with 25 parents, teachers, GLI Board members and staff are participating in six full days of workshops, panels and presentations in and around the U.N....

12/9/2011 - Indian NGOs Release First Statement Supporting MidwivesAt a regional midwifery workshop in New Delhi, hosted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), multilateral, bilateral, and international NGOs released the first-ever joint statement indicating their commitment to scaling up efforts for "adapting, disseminating, and implementing the confederation's global standards of education, regulation, and professional association," for midwifery....

7/29/2011 - House Bill Would Slash Foreign Family Planning, Reimpose Gag RuleThe House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee voted to cut IFP funding by $154 million for FY2010 and expand the Global Gag Rule, banning funding for family planning programs in developing countries that counsel or provide information to women or advocate on a full range of options, including abortion....

7/21/2011 - House Panel Votes to Expand and Codify the Global Gag RuleThe House Foreign Relations Committee voted Thursday to reinstate and expand a ban on funding for family planning programs in developing countries that counsel or provide information to women or advocate on a full range of options, including abortion....